I am British so I can always come back - Hamilton
As on Monday Lewis Hamilton's book 'My Story' will be in stores, 'The Sun' publishes extracts from the book. In the extract of today, Hamilton declares why he made the decision to move to Switzerland. When Lewis announced that he would leave England, this was not welcomed by his British fans.
Lewis Hamilton said: "I now also have people following me in my car. A couple of times I have had to burn rubber and leave them behind and that’s not good because it can be dangerous. In that situation, you just do not know what is going on. You almost have to fear for your life a little bit and I do not want to live like that. I would rather completely avoid it and have a place where I can feel safe from intrusion.
"It was then that I first started thinking seriously about leaving England, leaving the UK, to live abroad. A lot of people had told me it was the best thing to do. I am away working most of the year, I would only spend about 80 days in England and so it made sense to move abroad I would not be in the papers all the time if I were not there to be photographed.
"It was quite exciting in a way, the idea of living abroad. It made me feel quite free just to think about it. I knew I could go anywhere I wanted and, heeding a lot of good advice, I finally reached my decision: I would move to Switzerland.
"Switzerland has a great feel. I had never been there until this year and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was such a cool, chilled-out place. I imagined my life there and it was all sweet things. I just thought about what I would do in the winter, the testing, the training, swimming in lakes, the mountains to climb . . . It is beautiful. The quality of life is really good. All the people were so welcoming. I thought I would not be noticed in Switzerland, but I had quite a few people approach me in the street. It was pleasant though and I did not mind that. I thought it was a wicked place and I could live there.
"So, I made arrangements for Swiss residency and moved to Switzerland. Moving from England and my family and friends and everything I knew and loved was not an easy decision. And despite what has been said, it is not about tax. I love England and I am happy to pay my tax if I live there. Money is not the decider in my life – quality of life is. I weighed it up, and realised it was the best thing to do for now.
"I am British so I can always come back! I love my fans, my fantastic British fans, and that will never change, but I needed to move for my own good."
